1. Pacifica Update: Executive Director terminated; Justice & Unity continues to oppose WBAI sale, swap, or lease
2. WBAI Producer J.D. Livingston Makes His Transition
3. Sat., Mar. 22 – Talkback’s Hugh Hamilton Speaks
4. Settle the Central Park 5 Case Now!
5. Save WBAI and Help It Thrive – Become a Member
6. Wed., Mar. 26 – Lynne Stewart Is Throwing a PARTY!
7. Local Station Board meets Wed., Apr. 9 – Come and comment
8. Support CPRMetro.org (Community Progressive Radio – Online)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
1. Pacifica Update: Executive Director terminated; Justice & Unity continues to oppose WBAI sale, swap, or lease
On March 13, the Pacifica National Board (PNB) voted to thank Summer Reese and to end her employment with the foundation as Interim Executive Director. Reese, the former Pacifica board chair who had no prior management experience but a long association with right-wing libertarians in Los Angeles, had become Interim Executive Director in August 2012 after the Board declined to renew the contract of the last regular Executive Director. And in November 2013, the outgoing PNB had conditionally offered her the permanent position.
In New York, Reese is known for, among other misdeeds:
- laying off three-quarters of WBAI’s paid staff last August, including the News Department, yet not providing legally (and morally) required severance payments until 7 months later, after some former employees were forced into near-homelessness;
- hiding from the board and listeners for 4 months the lawsuit filed against Pacifica by owners of the Empire State Building, that nearly led to WBAI’s eviction from the broadcast antenna room until Justice & Unity blew the whistle and demanded a special Transmitter Fund;
- secretly soliciting a proposal (in summer 2013) to lease out WBAI from a New Jersey-based station whose drivetime program featured repeated uncritical reports about Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands; and
- repeatedly violating Pacifica bylaws and processes by arbitrary hiring and firing around the network.
Refusing to accept the PNB decision, on Monday Reese broke into the Pacifica building using bolt cutters – and bragged about her action on video – and she, her mother and some friends have moved into the organization’s national office. They may be following a plan laid out by Chris Condon, a member of the local board from our Los Angeles station. He openly wrote the following to Reese and several dozen other Pacifica people:
“1. Do not surrender your office or your position.
2. Do not surrender the checkbook or control over the bank account.
3. Do not permit members of this faction into the Pacifica building or into your office. If you want to meet with them do so at some other place.
4. Change the locks on your office immediately, get a 24 hour security camera.
5. Keep your supporters and allies nearby, working in your office, do not ever be there alone.
6. Immediately hire an armed security guard. If anyone in this faction shows aggression or violence towards you requiring self-defense, shoot them. Not to kill; but a 38 hollow point in the knee cap, obliging the recipient to spend the rest of their life in a wheel chair, should have a salutary effect on the rest of them. Or call the police….”
Neither Reese nor her supporters have disavowed this blatant call to violence.
Meanwhile, Reese and her supporters have unleashed a media blitz, with a torrent of false propaganda about the decision. They continue to cynically stoke fears that those now in the National Board majority are scheming to sell WBAI – despite the compete lack of evidence for the claim. In a public statement, national board member Cerene Roberts, who is also part of Justice and Unity, repeated the group’s longtime strong opposition to the sale, leasing, or signal swapping of WBAI.
For more details on this week’s events in Berkeley (and ongoing developments), as well as more background on Reese, see the article “Long-overdue changes at Pacifica give hope for network’s renewal” at http://www.savekpfa.org/ .
2. Producer J.D. Livingston Makes His Transition
Last Friday, March 14, long-time producer of Imhotep Gary Byrd’s “Global Black Experience” and “Global Beat Experience” died in Lincoln Hospital. J.D. underwent chemotherapy for colon cancer in 2012 and had been back at work until about a week before his passing. Arrangements for a celebration of his life will be shared when available.
3. Sat., March 22: Talkback’s Hugh Hamilton to Speak at CEMOTAP
Weekday afternoons just have not been the same! If you’re longing for a taste of Hugh, catch him on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 2PM at CEMOTAP, 135-05 Rockaway Blvd., South Ozone Park, NY 11420.
And keep in touch with him at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hugh-Hamilton/230192110330982?ref=hnav
4. Demand Settlement of the Central Park Five Case Now!
The Scottsboro Boys of our generation are now men.
After having been falsely convicted of a 1989 assault and rape of a female jogger in Central Park, and being jailed for a cumulative total of 41 years, they’ve spent more than a decade in New York City civil courts seeking a degree of compensation for forced “confessions” and life-damaging imprisonment.
We cannot erase the pain or return the time stolen from them and their families, but we can make their present lives less difficult. Demand that the De Blasio administration settle this case, NOW, as De Blasio promised in his campaign. Sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/mayor-deblasio-we-are-asking-mayor-deblasio-to-settle-the-central-park-five-case-in-short-order-as-promised and write to:
Mr. Zachary Carter
Corporation Counsel
NYC Law Department
100 Church Street, 6th floor
New York, NY 10007
5. Save WBAI and Help It Thrive – Become a Member
Although the long fund drive in February and March allowed the station to finally make the severance payment to its laid-off workers, the station’s fiscal condition is quite shaky. It is a struggle to pay our studio and office rent, premium and mailing costs, salary and benefits for the very small staff, and most importantly, the $50,000 monthly rent for the Empire State Building broadcast antenna.
In addition to your financial support of the station:
Become a WBAI member . Then you can vote in elections later this year for the LSB, and for any ballot referendums on the station’s future. There’s still talk of leasing away the station or of swapping our 50-mile radius frequency for millions of dollars and a smaller broadcast area.
Membership comes from donating $25 or more (with or without a “premium”) or volunteering at least three hours. (We are also working to obtain a system of hardship waivers.) If it feels right, include a note that you are donating under protest and have signed the online petition against leasing the station at (https://www.change.org/petitions/keep-wbai-in-control-of-its-programming). You can donate by calling (until the pledge drive ends Sunday) 212-209-2950, or by using your credit/debt card online at give2wbai.org (and use the “Order Comments” box to make your statement). Or send a check or money order to: Pacifica Foundation-WBAI Radio, General Post Office, P.O. Box 30540, New York, NY 10117-2112.
6. Wed., March 26: Celebrate with Lynne Stewart – Lynne is throwing a Party for her dears Ralph Poynter and Betty Davis
All are welcome, no presents please, and the requested $10 “gift” donation goes to fund work to bring Political Prisoners home!
Entertainment, cake, and yes, short speeches will be yours!
Ralph turned 80 yesterday and Betty will be 70 on March 30.
Wed., March 26 – 6:30pm
Theatre 80
80 St. Mark’s Place (nr. 2nd Ave.)
Manhattan
Trains: F to 2d Ave., 6 to Astor Pl.
More info at http://lynnestewart.org
7. Support CPRMetro.org (Community Progressive Radio – Online)
CPRMetro ( http://cprmetro.org ), the online station programmed by WBAI exiles Bernard White and Don DeBar, has 24/7 offerings that fills in some of the major gaps that the “new” BAI leaves, including a progressive weekday international newscast and community events. For instance, in recent weeks they covered the funeral of Amiri Baraka and Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Lumumba.
CPRMetro is in the process right now of migrating to a new online platform. They need a small cash infusion to accomplish this. If you can help, please go to http://www.CPRmetro.org and make a donation using their PayPal button.
8. Local Station Board (LSB) meets Wed., April 9 – Come out, speak up!
The WBAI Local Station Board (LSB) will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 9, at 7 PM at a location to be announced.
In early February, the Pacifica National Board directed that negotiations about leasing WBAI be put on hold and that the LSB should prepare a plan for station sustainability within 60 days. In spite of Justice & Unity’s urging, it took the LSB a month to choose a working group for the project and the majority members of that group have failed to call a meeting. The deadline is April 9.
Ask them why they won’t act.
In the meantime, send us your ideas for increasing WBAI’s listenership and income: savewbai@gmail.com.
Recent Comments